78 to 82 Holmes a Nightmare for Tyson

Looking at a Top 10 from 1986 you got Spinks, Bonecrusher, Pinklon, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Berbick, Tucker, Bruno. I would say it was pretty good.

Well, I'll take dominating with ease over having to face adversity any day of the week. You can reverse that and say: if Holmes in his prime struggled with lot lesser fighters than Tyson, how would he look against Tyson? I think Holmes beats Mike prime for prime, but it's just an opinion that doesn't affect the ratings of both fighters.

 

Do you think Holmes avoided unifying because he was busy fighting superior opposition?

Tucker sounds exactly like the kind of guy who Holmes would duck.

 

He didn't avoid unifying in the discussed period. The WBA titleholder was Mike Weaver at the time and nobody called for the rematch as Holmes beat him decisively. WBA was a secondary title because of it.

Wouldas don't exist.

 

It was a two belt era and Weaver was the only other champion back then?

 

Nobody considered him a real champion tho. Holmes already beat him and after beating Ali he had the WBA lineage twice over, so nobody pushed for the fight. Holmes had the undisputed status even without the WBA belt.

 

Weren’t there other champions besides weaver?

 

Between 78 and 82? Only Tate. But there was no realistic window for Holmes to fight him. Arum didn't want to throw Tate against Larry for his first title defence.

 

Holmes vs Tyson: I believe the formula for picking a winner is simple. If the bell rings for round 5 Holmes is going to stop Tyson between the 10th and 12th rounds. I like Holmes here,,,,

 

I think he would do better staying behind his jab, but I still think Tyson finishes him in the late rounds.

 

I could’ve sworn there were other champions after 82. It’s sad that Holmes never fought them.

 

We're not talking about "after 82" tho.

 

You’re right. Only one of us is looking for excuses for Holmes not unifying like Tyson did.

 

If he's not intimidated, he surely beats front-runner Tyson. He would hold Tyson back with his left hand (strong resistance strength, had Holmes) and drop bombs with his right hand.. like Holyfield did. Or uppercuts.

 

Mike beats any Holmes.
When Holmes found a rhythm with the jab thats when he got struck out.
Nothing in the 88 fight suggested Holmes could beat Tyson.
Mikes stye was his kryptonite.

 

Buster on that night was a replica of prime Lennox Lewis.
Lewis and Holmes were similar but still very different.
Buster was much closer to Lewis than Holmes.